[Am-info] Fwd: [IP] Microsoft Shows 85% Profit Margins for Windows

[Paul Rickard]

========== On 2002.11.19 06:46 AM, Joe Barr typed: ============

>How much do you suppose they have lost on MSN since the beginning?  A
>billion?

     Well, we know they lost a lot more money in the beginning. Gotta 
figure for advertising, staff, staff reductions, acquisitions, 3rd-party 
contracts... MSN has existed since August 1995, which is seven years. If 
they had been losing $97 million annually since then the totals would be 
nearly $700 million. But from 1995 until about 1997 MSN was more of a 
money pit, well beyond the "paltry" $97 million lost last year. Back when 
they were trying to provide premium content in a TV-like fashion and 
everything was falling apart. Remember when MS was giving away new PCs 
along with MSN service contracts, then people canceled the contracts? The 
investment deals with Qwest ($200 mil), Gilat ($50 mil), etc. The costs 
of hiring and firing Rick Belluzzo. MSNBC is still losing money for 
Microsoft and NBC/GE after six years, quite a bit of money as I recall. 
Costs for Microsoft's Olympic Web sites. Cinemania. The buyouts of 
Hotmail, Firefly, LinkExchange, et al. The Hotmail buyout was by itself 
$300 to $400 million according to reports at the time. LinkExchange cost 
them $250 million. At least four separate massive advertising campaigns. 
A half dozen major redesigns and the staff necessary to do them. MSN 
Sidewalk. Slate. The failed MSN access device. $1 billion is too low an 
estimate. I say more like $3 billion at the very least. And it hasn't 
hurt them a bit.


>On Mon, 2002-11-18 at 21:01, Paul Rickard wrote:
>> ========== On 2002.11.18 07:33 PM, Gene Gaines typed: ============
>> 
>> >
>> >MSN, the internet service provider and portal, lost $97m,
>> >down from losses of $199m in the same quarter last year, on
>> >revenues up from $431m to $531m.
>> 
>>    Seven years and it's still bleeding cash. This alone should be 
>> evidence of their monopolistic tendancies.


======== Paul Rickard, Editor of The Microsoft Boycott Campaign =======
--------------------------------[ Http://www.msboycott.com ]-----------

  "Microsoft is like this intellectual roach motel: big brains go in
   and you don't see anything come out."
       -Paul Saffo, Institute for the Future